Reporter's sources subject of Colo. court hearing

By DAN ELLIOTT, Associated Press
| 6:45 a.m.April 10, 2013

FILE - In this March 12, 2013 file photo, James Holmes, left, and defense attorney Tamara Brady appear in district court in Centennial, Colo. for his arraignment. Court documents are raising new questions for the university that Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes attended before the July 20 theater shooting that left 12 people dead and 70 injured. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, RJ Sangosti, Pool, File)
— AP

FILE - In this March 12, 2013 file photo, James Holmes, left, and defense attorney Tamara Brady appear in district court in Centennial, Colo. for his arraignment. Court documents are raising new questions for the university that Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes attended before the July 20 theater shooting that left 12 people dead and 70 injured. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, RJ Sangosti, Pool, File)
/ AP

DENVER 
A New York-based reporter is in a Colorado courtroom as attorneys for theater shooting suspect James Holmes try to learn the identity of her confidential sources.

Holmes is charged with killing 12 people and injuring 70 at a movie theater in the Denver suburb of Aurora on July 20.

Fox News reporter Jana Winter cited anonymous law-enforcement sources in an article last year that said Holmes had sent violent drawings to a psychiatrist before the attack.

Holmes' attorneys contend whoever gave her the information violated a gag order in the case. A judge ordered Winter to attend a hearing Wednesday as Holmes' attorneys try to find out the identity of her sources.

Winter argues she shouldn't have to identify her sources under shield laws that protect reporters' sources under some circumstances.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

A Colorado judge has ordered New York-based Fox News reporter Jana Winter to attend a hearing Wednesday as part of theater shooting suspect James Holmes' attempt to identify her confidential sources.

The attorneys plan to re-question a police investigator about whether he told anyone about the contents of a notebook Holmes mailed to a University of Colorado, Denver psychiatrist before the July 20 attack.

Holmes, who had been a student at the university, is charged with fatally shooting 12 people and injuring 70 in a packed Aurora theater. The judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Winter wrote a story in July citing unnamed law enforcement officials as saying the notebook contained drawings depicting violence.

Holmes' lawyers want to know the names of the law enforcement officials who spoke to Winter. The defense argues the leak violated a gag order and could weaken the credibility of those officials if they are called to testify in a trial.

Winter argues she should not have to identify her sources under Colorado and New York shield laws that protect reporters' sources under some circumstances.

Ken Paulson, president of the First Amendment Center, which advocates for free speech and a free press, said Winter's reporting served the public interest.

"Jana Winter's reporting was important because it shed light on whether a public university had overlooked clear signals that the public was in danger. What could be of greater public interest than that?" he said.

"We want reporters to provide us that information because we know that public institutions will not voluntarily reveal that they are guilty of a lapse. This was a core function of a reporter under the First Amendment, reporting on people in power and telling the public exactly what they need to know," Paulson said.

If the judge orders Winter to reveal her sources and she refuses, she could be jailed.

Winter's attorney, Dori Ann Hanswirth, said Colorado law requires the Colorado Office of the Public Defender, which is representing Holmes, to pay Winter's travel expenses. She said the total for Winter's two trips to date is $1,878.

The public defender's office refused to disclose the costs, citing the gag order and attorney-client privilege.

The judge has said Winter likely will have to make a third trip to Colorado before the question is resolved.

Taxpayers likely incurred additional expenses for attorneys in New York who argued on Holmes' behalf against Winter's requests for a judge there to quash the Colorado subpoena. The public defender's office did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

On the same day that Winter's story appeared on FoxNews.com, NBC News reported that the notebook contained "writings about killing people," citing a senior law enforcement official whom it did not name. It's unclear whether Holmes' attorneys sought the network's sources. An NBC News spokeswoman did not immediately return a call.